Doll.



F. W. PARSONS.

DOLL.

APPLIOATION FILED 111113.26, 1912.

Patented Dec. 8, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

- A'rrasr F. W. PARSONS.

DOLL.

APPLICATION FILED TBB.2G,1912.

Patented Dec 8, 1914.

2 NIEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK W. PARSONS, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THEPARSONS-JACKSON COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A. CORPORATION.

DOLL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 8, 1914.

Application filed February 26, 1912. Serial Np. 679,818.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK W. PAR- sons, citiz n of the UnitedStates, residing at Cleveland, in the county-of Cuyahoga and State ofOhio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dolls, ofwhich the following is a specification."

This invention relates to an improvement in dolls, and the inventionconsists in a doll having the construction and combination of partssubstantially as shown and described and particularly pointed out in theclaims.

The object in view is to provide a doll of exceptional durability,particularly in the places and parts heretofore found to be wealranddefective.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of acomplete doll em bodying the invention and showing the internalmechanism in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a central sectional elevationthereof front to rear and showing the means for securing the severalattached parts togetherand especially the connections for the head. Fig.3

is an inside view of the top or crown on line ill-IE, Fig. 2, and Fig. 4is a cross section on line 2-2, Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a sec tional viewcentrally through one of the, leg

3 joints and the portion of the body to which it is attached. f

As thus shown the doll is represented as a hollow or shell-likeembodiment, having thin walls for the most part except where specialreinforcement is required at the oints and elsewhere to give neededstrength, and the said doll may\ be made of any material which combineslightness with strength and firmness and can be molded into the desiredshape. Assuming, however, that a suitable material is found for thisuse, and I would not fix, an arbitrary limit to the material, the dollis made up with six distinct and 5 independent parts or piecescomprising the j body b, the head It, the two arms a and the two legs I.These parts are made to be united with sprin or yielding jointswhichenable each attac ed member to be independently mounted and alsorotated into difi'erent positions on the body and in re spect to eachother, and to this end the body b has flattened ring-shaped side facingsor bearings 2 and 3 respectively, with central holes 6 for theattachment of the arms and the legs, but with said bearings at suchdifferent angles of inclination in respect to each other as the functionof each may require. Thus, the flat ringshaped bearings 2 on the bodyfor the arms are in substantially parallel, planes with -6() each otherand slightly. inclined toward the front, and the flat ring-shapedbearings 3 for the legs are set at an inward and forward inclination inlike manner so as to bring the legs into a' natural position andrelation substantially as seen in Fig. 1. The arms and legs likewisehave fiat disk-shaped facings d to correspond to those on the body, sothat in these respects the limbs lie flat against the body, normally,whatever their l position of adjustment or rotation thereon may be. Inother words all the legitimate adjustments are on the plane of thesefiat meeting surfaces and a great variety of positions and combinationsare possible. Other movements involving dislocation or tilting of theparts are possible but they are arbitrary and will not stay 'fixed,particularly in view of the novel means for supporting the said parts injointed relation 3 with the body. To illustrate, the arms and legs haveeach an attachment consisting of a helical wirespring 4 of conical formand a tension wire 5. The spring is seated at its base against; 5 theinside of the body about the hole 6 and. the wire 5 is hook-engaged withthe inturned top or apex-end of the spring and passes transverselythrough the center of the spring td the outside of the doll where thewire 5 is 9 shown as having its end 12 bent at right an.- gles tosecure-it against endwise pull or tension. However, other necessarydetails enter into the construction of these joints. Thus, thedisk-shaped part d is ma'de originally in Bi 9 separate piece andpermanently cemented or secured to the leg, becoming a fixed andinseparate working ortion thereof in the manufacture. The said disk hasan annular cupped .boss or projection 7 which fits snugly. 1 in thecircular hole 6 in the body and has a central aperture for the passageof wire 5, thus affording the equivalent of a ball and socket joint andby which even if the limb be drawn out far enough to withdraw the boss 7against the comparatively strong tension of spring 4 it will be guidedback to place by the spring and wire and the boss when the pull isrelaxed. The stock in body b about hole 6 is shown as somewhat heavier;

than in other side portions of the body, and the limb itself is furtherreinforced by a heavy tube or sleeve 8 which is seated and cemented atits inner end in the cup-portion of the boss 6 and also cemented orotherwise secured to the wall of the limb at its outer end where it isout to conform to the outer contour of the limb. This tube 8, like diskd, is built into'the leg as a permanent portion and is the same as if itwere originally molded therewith. Finally, I provide an elongated"eyelet or a small metallic tube 9 with a flanged outer end and insertit in the outer portion of the sleeve 8 to serve as a rotatable bearingfor the wire 5, or in which the said wire may turn when the limb isturned. The' said tube is, however, set back from the face-of the limbat the bottom of a counter-bored socket or cavity 10 at the end ofsleeve 8 and within which the flanged end of eyelet 9 and the bent end12 of the wire is retired and seated to turn and not contact withanything on the surface of the limb. The tension of the spring is thusdistributed directly to the sleeve 8 i ndbdisk-plate d and onlyindirectly to the The construction shown in Fig. 5 clearly discloses allthe parts and features just described, and these are characteristic ofall the other joints for the spectively.

The head It has a rounded and more or less tapered neck n of the ballpattern and shaped to conform to the round socketshaped opening in thetop of the body.

.That is, the said opening is adapted to receive the said neck in therelationship of a ball and socket joint and with such freedom ofmovement that the head can be turned or rotated to any desiredinclination or position within limits and turned bodily aroundhorizontally at pleasure. To these ends the head is placed undersuitably strong spring tension corresponding to the legs and arms, butwith this difference that a spiral spring 14 is used'and which comes atabout the'middle of the body I) and is hook-connected by a wire-15 withthe bottom of said body and by wire 17 with the yoke 16 in head it. Theeyelet 9, at the bottom of the ends 'of this yoke and prevented from"body I) for wire 15 serves the same bearing purpose asin the legs andarms, and a cavity or recess 13 in the body f'ormsja seat for the flangeof the eyelet and retires the right-angled detaining end 12 'of wire 15;Yoke 16"is made of fairly heavy wire and of semi-circular shapeconforming to the size and shape ofthe'interior of neck 10, and wire 17is secured centrally between shifting thereon orseparating therefrom bythe back-turned ends 17' The yoke is thereby also always centered andheld upright within the neck, andthe strainon the neck legs and arms rema am more equally distributed, -the ends 17 doubling the seatingsurface or area of con-, tact with the rounded neck.- By'thisconstruction and connection of. the parts the head is adapted to berocked in its socket and will slide in respect to the said yoke, but ifthe head be horizontally rotated the rotation will carry the yoke withit and turning will take place through the wire 15 in rotatable bearing9 below. Thus, in any event thehead is irremovably fastened on the bodyand there is no way to release it but by straightening the right-angledend 12 of the detaining wire 15. This is so difiicult for any one to dowithout tools that the head as well as the arms and legs are to beregarded as irremovably and permanently fastened in place, and a childcan neither pull part and which also provide stops to prevent yoke 16from turning. The neck n; is also gradually thickened from the headdownward to take up the strain or pull of the spring 14 which isnecessarily stiff, and the ribs 21 also aid in resisting this strain.The

pull upward on the body 5 is also mg? by i the inclined walls having theflat bearing faces 3, as seen in Fig. 5, andby thickening the roundedbottom, asindicated by 22. The neck portion 23 of body b is alsogradually thickened to provide a strong and relatively large cup-shapedseat or socket for rounded neck a. 4 P In assembling the parts, eitheroriginally or for repairs, the practice is to first engage h the wirewith the springs and then draw the wire out through the leg or arm so asto bring the spring underithe desired-. tension The wire istheni bent tofornfirg' 'the right angled stop 12, thus locking the parts togetherandholding. the tension wanted.

The crescent shape of yoke 16 permits the yoke to be easily insertedinto headh, and the helical form of. the springs-4 make itvery'convenient and practical to screw "the sameinto openings 6 whenentrance into .bodyfb at its top is debarred by lie gd h;

Whatll'laim is:;

l. A hollow e011 body having see image at'itsjends"at'diiferentangles'to a vertical M plane and inclined toward-thefront',"ar'm'sand'legs seated on said facings and-havingtransverse'bores with outer recessespwiresf through the said boresterminating- 1n said recesses and helical springs in said body havingsaid wires engaged therewith.

2. A doll body having a head provided with a substantially ball andsocket con-.

' limbmembers, said members having tubes posed between said ribs.

transversely through their upper ends and separate tubular bearingstherein, and springs having wires provided with bent ends engaged withsaid bearings and serving as retaining means for the said limbs.

5. A doll having a headwith a circular tapered neck having ribs insidetapering from base upward, in combination with a body having a socketseating said neck and means to fasten the head rotatably in placecomprising a substantially semi-circular yoke fitting the inside of saidneck and dis- 6. In a doll, a body having a separate head, and means torotatably secure said head in rocking relation with said body,comprising spring tension-connections and a curved yoke provided withstops to fix the working relations of the tension connections therewith.r 7. A doll body having a hollow limbmember, a tension device torotatably con nect said parts, and said limb-member having. a cuppedbearing-plate and a reinforcing tube at thejoint to relieve the mainstrain of the tension device from the limb member.

8. A doll haying a body with,a seat at its side with" a circular openinginto said body,

a member provided with a raised annular pro ection seatedin saidopening, a spiral spring surrounding said projection and meansconnecting the inner end of said spring through said projection withsaid member to hold the member in operating position.

9. In a doll, a hollow body having rotatable members and meanssecuringthe same in place comprising helical springs having their wider portionseated against the inside of the body, and wires anchored in the outside of said members and engaging the smaller end of said springs.

10. A doll body having flat annular facings at its outsides and ends andmembers -faced to seat thereon, wires engaged transversely through theupper portions of said members and rotatably mounted therein, andhelical springs on the inside of said body seated at their base againstthe same opposite said facings and the saidwire's extending through saidsprings and engaged with the smaller ends thereof, whereby said membersare held in place .under spring tension.

11. In a doll, a mechanism to secure the head and body of adoll-together comprising a crescent shaped yoke made out of a strip ofmetal of wire shape having its ends lapped back upon the body thereofand forming curved and widened bearing portions, in combination withspring tension devices secured to said yoke between said ends, the saidhead and neck having ball and socket meeting surfaces overlapped by saidyoke. I

12. A doll having a neck of concavo-convex shape in'its bottom seatingportion, a body having a concave socket adapted to seat said neck andmeans securing said parts together comprising a tension spring anchoredin said body, a free s'lidable yoke in said neck and a link connectingsaid spring with the said yoke.

13. A doll body having a concave-convex neck and a head having a socketconforming to said neck, a crescent shaped wire yoke bearing upon theinside of said neck and spring tension connections with said yokeengaged with the bottom of said body.

In testimony where'ofI aflix my signature FREDERICK W. PARSONS.

Witnesses: F. O. Mnssmy, H. T. Flam.

- in presence of two witnesses.

